Mig-29 - Take-off Magazine

Andrey Fomin
industry | in brief
UAC and Aviation of Ukraine to work together
A key event on the first day of
MAKS 2007 was the meeting of
Russian President Vladimir Putin
and Ukrainian Prime Minister Victor
Yanukovich, who discussed the cooperation
of the two countries’ aircraft
industries. Putin and Yanukovich
attended together the MAKS 2007
exposition of Ukrainian aircraft makers
and were briefed on the status of
the Ukrainian-Russian aircraft development
programmes. Speaking with
Antonov’s Designer General Dmitry
Kiva, the guests discussed the two
countries’ cooperation in resuming the
full-rate production of a newer variant
of the An-124 Ruslan heavy airlifter
and productionising a new-generation
An-148 regional airliner. The Russian
president also called for continued
cooperation in developing and making
the An-70 airlifter.
The meeting of the Russian president
and Ukrainian premier resulted
in the signature on 21 August of the
memorandum of understanding by
the United Aircraft Corporation and
Aviation of Ukraine state aircraft production
concern, with the MoU providing
for furthering the cooperation
in the field of transport and passenger
aircraft-making. To prevent competition
due to similar programmes pursued,
the parties agreed to stick to
common marketing and pricing policies
and run joint scientific and technical
research under a common product
strategy. The memorandum reaffirms
the two countries’ readiness to have
12
Russian and Ukrainian aircraft plants
launch the full-scale production of
the An-148 and set up relevant maintenance
centres. Cooperative development
of the MS-21 medium-haul
airliner and an advanced wide-body
airliner was pronounced promising
as well.
A month after the MoU’s signature
– on 19–20 September, the programmes
of the joint An-140, An-74
and An-148 production by Ukrainian
and Russian manufacturers were
presented to UAC and the Aviation
of Ukraine delegations as well as
media and new fields of cooperation
to explore were discussed on the
premises of KSAMC (Kharkov), Aviant
(Kiev) and Antonov (Kiev).
Being more specific on the MoU,
Ilyushin’s Director General/Designer
General Victor Livanov, dual-hatted
as the head of UAC’s Transport and
Special Aircraft Division, told at a
news conference in Kiev that, as far
as cargo ramp aircraft are concerned,
the parties were intent on joint promotion
of the An-124, Il-76, An-70, MTA,
Il-112 and An-74 freighters on the
markets, including the Russian one.
In this context, the Ukrainians were
invited to join the MTA programme,
and the Russians indicated their willingness
to reconsider their stance on
the An-70 programme.
Feasibility of passenger aircraft
cooperation was mentioned before
the gathering in Kiev by Ilyushin
Finance Co. Director General Alexander
Rubtsov, who stressed that the major
Russian-Ukrainian project in this field
was production and sales of An-148
regional airliners. He said that the rollout
of the first Aviant-built production
An-148 was slated for late this year and
that of the first VASO-made one for late
2008. According to Alexander Rubtsov,
the An-148 “has become part of UAC’s
model line” and 96 An-148s are to be
made by VASO until 2010.
The next stage of airliner development
and production cooperation
between the two countries, IFC’s
leader believes, may be joint work
on the future MS-21 short-medium-haul
airliner slated to hit the
market in 2015–16. In addition, the
Ukrainian side was invited to cooperate
in developing a future twin-engine
medium-haul wide-body aircraft that
might replace the current Il-86 fleet.
Antonov Designer General Dmitry
Kiva outlined the current R&D efforts
on a medium transport jet with a lifting
capacity of 20 t, a 300–350-seat
medium-haul wide-body airliner and
a 150–180-seat medium-haul airliner
that could serve the base for future
Russian-Ukrainian programmes.
Rounding off the meeting, head of
Aviation of Ukraine Oleg Shevchenko
underlined that he was for “partnership”
between UAC and Aviation of
Ukraine and believed Russia’s and
Ukraine’s cargo and passenger aircraft
industries had a future ahead of
them only in pooling their efforts.
take-off november 2007 www.take-off.ru